Canadian Roadie
 

A Sampling Platter of Riding Small Town British Colombia

Words & Photos: Robin Pieper

Pemberton

We had one day in Pemberton and it was one of our best days of the trip. Although locals would say July is far too late in the season, some regular rain and a relatively mild summer thus far kept the trails in fairly good nick. Besides, we’d travelled from the other side of the world, so we weren’t going to be super picky!

First up was a pre-breakfast locals lap; all-time home-to-dirt ratio (about 50m and onto the first trail). The single track climb would make its way up the hill on the rewarding side of technical, and kept the 300m climb to an efficiently interesting 30 minutes. Despite it only being 20 minutes from Whistler, it feels worlds apart. A noticeably drier landscape with more scattered forests gives extra glimpse to the views across the Pemberton Meadows valley and surrounding mountain ranges, and a very different style of trail to ride. ‘Fat Tug’ was a single black smorgasbord and a delicious introduction to Pemberton riding. Just enough technical features, doubles and jumps, and dusty steep corners to keep us on our toes, but also enough flow to be able to pick it off at nearly full pace on the first lap. This side of the valley had plenty more to explore... but the coffee shop was calling, and so was the Mackenzie Trail Network on the other side of the valley.

Post caffeination along with some mild life admin, we started the second ride of the day up the Mackenize Forest Service Road (FSR), to see what was on offer. Our local recommendation had us aiming for ‘Overnight Sensation’, and if we liked what we found, backed up with ‘Live like Lisa’. Chances of us not liking what we found were... slim to none. Overnight Sensation delivered single black dream, again excellent read-and-ride trail with great viewpoints.

Once complete, we turned out sights back up the hill via the ‘Nimby’ climbing track. Nimby served interesting and beautiful passage to the far side of the trail network, where we found the top of ‘Live like Lisa’ – named after an adventure loving Pemberton local, taken too soon. Lisa, we quickly found out, was a very good rider with excellent taste in trails. She kept us well on our toes, hooting and hollering down, on occasion needing to stop and check out a line or two before continuing on our way. A descent of about 800m or so later, and we emerged on the banks of Lillooet River, complete with lounging chairs. A great place to catch our breath!

It was also awfully motivating that from here we could spot the pub... although across the river. Well, the day was getting on, so we powered through the 6km back along the river, jumped in the lake to freshen up, and set our targets on an outside table at the Pemberton Beer Farmers.

Beer and strawberries - a combination I never knew I needed until now.

A couple of tasting trays and a lengthy chat with the beer farmer himself, and we were still in no hurry to move far, but reluctantly shifted to our campsite for the night at Strawberry Point, on the shores of Lake Lillooet. The reluctance vanished the moment we arrived through as we struck a sparsely populated lakeside campsite.

So long Pemberton, with your good trails, coffee, beer and camping.

After Pemberton we had a few days in the South Chilcotins which you can read all about here.

Revelstoke Day 1 – Martha Creek

Martha Creek is about 20km north of Revelstoke, and comes with excellent accomodation courtesy of several camping areas. We parked up at Martha Creek Provincial Park, at a beautiful lakeside spot. If you're after something quieter, there are two more recreation campsites not too much further up the valley, so there’s plenty of choice.

Traditional camping activities commenced for an afternoon; reading a good book, swimming, wandering and a great deal of lakeside sitting. After a week on the trot, we welcomed a slower day.

The next day loomed with late morning rain, knowledge that did nothing to spur us on for an early start, choosing instead to maximise our lakeside paradise. By late morning, on the dot, we donned our rain jackets and commenced the climb. Fast forward 3 hours and 1500m of climbing (with the latter 500m being right in the rain and clouds), we arrived at a weather station (ironic, and a good place to put one), and surmised we must be at the top, albeit not evidenced with a view!

The ride down was an absolute hoot. Described to us as ‘old school’ riding, this apparently just means hand-built. It’s reminiscent of backcountry descents in NZ; raw, steep and a natural upgrade of an old walking track. It leads to very satisfying riding, smoothing out a very rough and puzzling section. The rain added its own dimension of slippery, and we learnt not to get too phased by our rear wheels having a mind of their own (and on occasion, the front wheel too). This trail is pure excellence. Starting in alpine meadows and rock gardens, these soon give way to roots and forest, increasing in density as we dropped lower. It’s consistent and there's plenty of flow to be found among the tech. We were stoked on our Ground Effect jackets and base layers keeping us comfy and enabling us to get out in the wet, because this was a trail not to be missed!

4.5 hours later, and we arrived back at Martha Creek Provincial Park, for a rainy lake swim and a late lunch of champions – 2 minute noodles.

Revelstoke Day 2

Today we opted to explore a couple of spots local to Revelstoke. First up was Boulder Mountain, the local network of ‘gravity oriented’ trails. You can’t ride a bad trail at Boulder, but luckily we had a fellow Kiwi currently residing in Revelstoke to show us the creme-de-la-creme. The previous weekend he’d completed an Everest on these trails, and supposedly wasn’t sick of them, or the climbing. Boulder mountain has a great range of grade 4-5 ‘loamers’, and within a couple of laps, we were knocking near a 1000m ride once again. Damn these large Canadian mountains.

For our second ride we waited for another friend to finish work, which gave us a few hours to explore the town. This started with a tasting flight at the new local coffee roasters, Holm Coffee. This is a place that would be well in the race against NZ’s prime coffee spots, with different origins ‘on tap’, and a cosy lounge complete with coffee table books about... coffee.

It was an excellent place to wait out a couple of summer showers, and after more coffee than one should probably drink in one sitting, we ventured off to explore the town. The secondhand bookstore drew us in, and over an hour later... it was time to meet up with the post-work friend for a jaunt to Akolkolex – an unsanctioned but fairly well-known locals network.

We were warned “the mosquitoes might be bad”. This is possibly the understatement of the century. From the moment we stepped out of the car, we were swarmed to the point of insanity, being bitten right through our clothing. It was impossible to ride uphill fast enough to gain any respite, although we did try. And it turns out some people are tastier than others... Will attracted them in droves. We also ran a scientific experiment on a mosquito's favourite colour (black), and the thickness of t-shirt required to defend ourselves (thick cotton). The trails were fresh, steep and hectic, good enough to make us forget the mosquitoes and agree the trauma was well worth a second lap of the hill. By dusk, the mosquitos chased us out of the forest and back to town, where the regional council undertake mosquito control to the tune of $75,000 for ‘nuisance and annoyance’ factors. An annoying nuisance for sure!

Anyway, mosquito’s aside, Akolkolex is a brilliant local trail network, and well worth an after-work lap.

Revelstoke Day 3

Being Sunday, it was almost compulsory to start the day with a leisurely coffee stop at our new favourite – Holm Coffee. Following that, we were off to Blanket Creek for the day. While not technically legal, this network seems to be Revelstoke’s worst kept secret.

Once again, with a FSR climb, there was the option of shuttling but without a 4WD and the gusto of an all-Kiwi crew, shuttling was never an option. 4x4ing Canadians were shocked to see pedallers out and passed on encouragement from the cab as they left us in the dust... nevermind, us Kiwi’s had a pedalling up reputation to protect!

Blanket Creek trails rank among my list of favourites in Canada (although it is a long list). Squamish style slab, tight and techy, a bit of steep, wonderful views, and trails that maintained some freshness and weren’t overused and blown out.

We rode a couple of trails before encountering the ‘big rock roll’ that a couple of the crew were keen to unlock. I opted for the B line, titled ‘Stay Alive’, which I figure was a good decision making on my part. There were some fine demonstrations on this rock roll, and proof that no matter how good you get, there will always be a trail feature that keeps you on your toes!

Returning to Revelstoke, we late-lunched on Blizzards (soft serve) from DQ, before retiring to the local watering hole, Rumpus Bar.

Revelstoke Day 4

For our final day in Revelstoke we had Frisbee Ridge in our sights. Fortunately for us, we had a friendly offer of a lift to the start, saving us a 900m climb. AND he gave us a gift of homemade banana bread for the journey. Legend!

Frisbee Ridge is an iconic alpine ride, famous for its landscape and wildflower meadows. We reckon it has some of the best views in Canada, but you should probably go check it out for yourself just to make sure. The trail itself is a great climb and descends just as well, rounding out all points of a great mountain bike experience. It’s an out-and-back 13km Grade 3. Our only feedback was sadly (for us) a distinct lack of wildlife, apparently unusual for Frisbee Ridge. We would have preferred a bear (from a distance) or elk... but I guess we’ll settle for the mosquitos.

The encore to Frisbee Ridge is Frisbee DH/Ultimate Frisbee. These tracks are by far the best routes down the hill. As the name suggests, this is an ultimate DH run, and a rapid change of pace from the Ridge trail. It’s an epic way to round out the morning ride.

A quick dip in the freezing waters of the Colombia River to freshen up, and it was time to get on the road to Golden.

Golden

Golden is a household name for many because of the skiing, but like many towns, in recent years is earning a spot on the mtb map as well. Mostly famous for the ‘psychosis’ DH race on Mt Seven, it also offers up over 100km of cross-country trails and some serious alpine riding in the surrounding area. Best of all, every direction has vast views of the Canadian Rockies.

We were fortunate enough to have some insider knowledge and lodgings through Will’s cousin, Kat. She lives just on the outskirts of Golden, and offered us a spot on the back of her section adjacent to the creek to park up. Dreamy!

In the morning, with Kat already at work for a few hours by the time we arose, we found a handwritten note welcoming free reign of her coffee machine, trail riding recommendations and an invitation to join her and another friend for an afterwork ride. Dutifully, we followed instructions and once caffeinated, went to explore the recommended loop at Mountain Shadows, which was a great way to orientate ourselves in the town.

Catching up Kat/friends in the evening, we explored the CBT Mainline trail network. Golden sure know how to do XC well. Up, down, left right, all in some sort of way that made it feel like the downs were twice as long as the uphill. Sounds too good to be true right? Maybe it is, because we snuck in a cheeky shuttle for our ‘xc’ ride... but shh.

After that hefty ride, the only thing left to do for the day was to park up on the sunny patio at Whitetooth Brewing Co. They had brilliant beer and cider on tap, it was sunny, and no mosquitos (thanks to the $100,000 Golden spends on mosquito control), and burritos on order from the nearby Mexican outlet, delivered by bike.

Golden Day 2

For our second day in Golden we set our eyes on Mt Seven. We sensed a lot of local pride for this mountain. While our new friends had work to attend, they were very enthusiastic to ensure we rode their best trails, and so hand-picked the must-do route for us. We were only happy to oblige, as the best thing about being a visitor is having good intel which means you don't second guess Trailforks every 5 minutes.

Mt Seven doesn’t look too high compared to the towering Rockies, but is in fact 1400m above us. Normally shuttled, we upheld our Kiwi pride and got pedalling, on a mixture of single track and FSR. There is a single track the whole way, but for efficiency we also chose to grind out some FSR metres. The top of the climb is well-known paragliding launch site, and our visit coincided with a paragliding event, sharing the summit views with only about 40 other gliders.

1400m descents are a real treat and we made the most of this one, linking up our recommended tracks for a mix of classic DH style, to loamy/moss covered fresh turns. A very diverse way down the hill.

Another brilliant ride in the bag could only mean one thing before we hit the road... a visit to DQ for another pair of Blizzards!

Fernie

Ah Fernie. Tucked away in the most south-eastern side of BC, it had evaded us on previous trips. This time, we were determined to see the most of this adventure loving town that had attracted so many of my university pals. As fate would have it, this little town nearly got her teeth into us, and we almost didn’t escape!

It all started with a distinct screeching in the van's rear brakes... which despite our optimism, sounded a little bit worse than just a stone in the rotor. It would be a job for the garage in the morning. Knowing BC Weekend was incoming, we nabbed the last unpowered campsite at the RV park, which put us only a 2 min bike ride from town. Getting our bearings was on the agenda for the evening and we contributed to the local economy by parking up on an inviting patio and pondering the plan for the next few days.

Fernie is famous for its epic skiing, and Fernie Brewing Co., but like many BC towns, it was embracing its summer flair. The biggest rumour to hit us pre-Fernie was ‘you have to love pedalling’. Fernie is a pedal town, with the best ‘town centre to trail’ ratio, in every direction. Fernie is truly a town where you don’t need a car to ride (this would work well in our favour over the next few days...). Unlike most BC mountain areas, there weren’t FSR’s to the top of most trails. In fact, most trails were accessed by climbing trails, or straight up a firebreak. To celebrate this, Fernie Brewing Co. hosts the ‘Trail to Ale’ challenge, whereby one visits the top of the 3 main riding areas in Fernie. Upon presenting photographic evidence of each trail sign summit, one is rewarded with a free pint at the brewery. Depending on which way one takes, it's about a 1500-1700m day with 50-70km of pedalling. Sounded like the sort of thing we’d do without the offer of a free beer, and thus the next day's plan was locked in.

First up: Trail to Ale

Fuelled by our faithful van-cooked oats, we headed off for the first climb of Trail to Ale, heading out to Mt Fernie Provincial Park up a punchy climb to ‘P9’, an excellent warmup to the flavour of Fernie. To maximise our time and elevation gain in this trail network, we added on a bonus 300m climb to reach ‘Eric’s Trip’, enroute back to town.

Swooping through town for a coffee stop and checking in on the van... we learnt it would take at least 4 days to get the brake parts, mostly due to the incoming BC long weekend. With this news, we figured there were worse places to be stuck, and happily pedalled back out of town, to adjust plans and solve problems later. We headed on through and up to ‘Hyperventilation’, which lived up to its name but rewarded us with stunning basin views. ‘6 More Days’ was our trail of choice down, and seemed appropriate seeing as we’d just committed to the better part of a week in Fernie!

Two-thirds of the of the Trail to Ale mission complete, we crossed town for refreshments yet again, and headed up the opposite side of the valley to ‘Swine Flu’, a Grade ‘Fun’ trail – one of those excellent trails that is just as fun for an intermediate as  for a world cup racer – and especially good at making an everyday rider feel like a world cup racer!

A short 500m from its exit, was Fernie Brewing Co., and we proudly collected our Trail to Ale completion stickers and beer, and rendezvoused with some mates from university, as paths collided in this small BC town. That set the tone for the evening, with homemade pizzas and a relaxed time catching up, after a perfect day riding bikes.

Fernie Day 2

A drizzly social morning ride preceded the coffee stop, heading up to some more XC style trails east of town (Eric’s trail etc). Along the way, we learned about the local landmarks, such as where the local moose likes to hang out in the evening, where a friend of a friend got charged by a grizzly a few years back, and so on. It continues to blow our minds how people have wildlife encounters so close to town. Imagine this as a pre-work morning routine: ride at 6am, moose encounter 6:20am, epic single track descent 6:45am, shower and breakfast 7:15am, desk by 8am. In Fernie that's normal!

Coffee turned into bagels and a sunny sit-down, before pondering what was next for the afternoon. We lined up a trail called ‘Big Money’, which raised some eyebrows from our friends, no offers of accompaniment, and a throwaway ‘good luck’ comment as we pedalled off to undertake the task.

The climb to Big Money is a relentless 1000m fire break push. No such thing as a gentle climbing track, this is the real deal on height gained per km. Luckily, there were plenty of huckleberries, saskatoon berries, raspberries and thimbleberries to sustain us and provide frequent breaks.

The top of Big Money has an epic seat, offering swooping views from the escarpment of the Elk Valley. In the head of the valley though, dark clouds and the odd flash of lightning loomed...

Big Money descends off the back of this escarpment. With its serious climb, this trail seems less ridden than the others, a bit narrower and more natural in feel. Starting off rocky, it evolved through tight Douglas Fir forest into roots and steep corners. A lot of fun! It wasn’t hard to let out a few whoops and hollers periodically to let the bears and moose know we were having fun.

At the end of Big Money the heavens opened, with rain pelting down so hard it was hard to see the trail ahead. Being right under a temperate cell storm is incredible, and fortunately warm. We splashed our way along the BC trail back to town, and within 2km of town the rain stopped... it hadn’t rained in town at all! We must’ve looked like we’d come from another land, wet and covered in mud head to toe. But oh so much fun!

Fernie Day 3

With a couple of big pedal days in the legs, we set our sights instead on Fernie Alpine Resort ‘summer’ trails. Among the locals this was ‘worth a visit for a day but beware of the world’s slowest chairlift’. The bike park had also received yesterday afternoon's deluge, and so things were a bit slick in the morning.

Unfortunately, this is where my riding ended, as I went down hard on a blue trail at the resort and threw myself over the bars. I wouldn't recommend it. This treated me to 3 fractures in my shoulder, with some secondary grazes and bruises to suit. This certainly changed the tune of the holiday, and with our van still at the garage for one more day, we were very grateful for the hospitality of our friends. A great place to be stuck and injured, all things considered.

With the van back in action, we hit the road. This longer stay in Fernie, and my new shoulder sling accessory, meant we passed by the hotspots of Nelson, Castlegar and the Rossland Trails (and the rapidly growing reputation of Kaslo and Nakusp) to boost it all the way back to Squamish in one big day of driving – thanks Will!

Back in Squamish, I donned the hiking shoes and caught up with some non-biking friends, while Will could explore all the trails that make Squamish great. Crankworx was just starting during our last couple of days there, so we joined the Whistler circus once again for some social time, before loading all our bikes and belongings back into their bags, waving ‘au revoir’ to our trusty van, and stepping back on the plane to NZ.

An epic 3 weeks of BC riding packed into different towns, staying at lakeside campgrounds and hanging' with old and new friends. Each place offered its own flavour of riding, but always involved some combination of coffee, ride, swim, beer, camp, and friends. BC has certainly cemented a dear place in my heart, and we can’t wait to be back there and explore further yet again!